Herbert von Karajan

KARAJAN IN CONCERT DVD-VIDEO 0734399

Herbert von Karajan's conducting achieves a fascinating synthesis of dynamism, discipline, and a diverse palette of gestures. Although his gestures clearly possess elegance and the power of suggestion, he remained more rooted than did leading conductors of a later generation . . . there's much of interest here.

Record Review /
David Breckbill,
BBC Music Magazine (London) / 01. July 2008

Typical Karajan traits are immediately apparent in the "Coriolan" Overture: depth of sound, built from the double-basses up; a Teutonic seriousness of utterance. This is huge Beethoven, with phrases that move with all the inevitability of molten lava. Karajan's conducting is, as always, supremely expressive of gesture . . . Karajan's pacing . . . is spot-on, and in this most dramatic of Beethoven overtures, the Karajan approach is a near bull's eye. "Egmont" emerges as "Coriolan's" blood brother in the depth of string sound Karajan elicits from his forces. Discipline is miraculous -- first violins move together with preternatural exactitude; lower strings dig in to phrase beginnings in the Overture proper with visceral bite. The final "Battle Scene" blazes with ferocity; Karajan's gestures, always fluid, tend towards the magisterial here . . . Wonderful . . . to hear the Berliners' string discipline in this "Tannhäuser" . . . Overall, this is a tremendous performance of "Freischütz", meaty and dynamic in the faster section . . . There is no denying, also, the virtuosity on display in the final "Danse générale" . . . Weissenberg and Karajan are similarly indulgent here. The long string lines are milked remorselessly. Weissenberg is in true cahoots with his collaborator . . .